Jack glanced round the group. 'OK, folks, this is the plan.' He outlined where the search would take place and tapped the map again. 'We'll search in pairs over this area. Be warned that the weather forecast is poor.'
Ted's eyes narrowed. 'How poor?'
'Gale-force winds.'
Ted rolled his eyes. 'I'm so glad I asked.'
'We've got Ellie and Max, and if the storm is bad we'll need them,' Jack continued. 'We all know that a dog is equivalent to twenty searchers in good conditions and we're not going to have good conditions so they're an essential part of the team. Ellie, I want you to search four hundred metres behind Ben and me.'
Ellie nodded and started pulling on her waterproof jacket and trousers. Once she was ready she started on Max, slipping him into his high-visibility jacket which also had bells and a green chemical light fastened to it so that she could hear and see him in poor weather conditions.
As they left the pub she winced slightly as the wind buffeted her madly. And they hadn't even reached any height yet. What was the weather going to be like up the top?
It was dark within an hour and Ellie stayed on the path, battling to stay upright in the appalling wind. If it hadn't been for the heavy pack on her back, she was sure that she would have been blown off the mountain.
In contrast, Max seemed totally indifferent to the weather, using the wind to his advantage as he searched for human scent.
Finally she reached the location where the walkers were believed to be. Ben and Jack were already there, and Jack was on the radio to the Mountain Rescue Team base.
'Bad news.' Jack tucked the radio away and adjusted the neck of his jacket. 'The battery in their cellphone has just died so now we have no contact whatsoever. They're not where they thought they were, so what we have here is a very serious incident. I've called out the rest of the MRT and another search dog team.'
As the others caught up Ellie squinted through the darkness up the path.
'If he slipped, crossing the waterfall back there, and then walked on, then they would be further than this.'
'Or maybe they didn't read their map properly,' Ben suggested quietly, 'and this isn't the right stream.'
Jack looked at him. 'What are you saying?'
'Well, looking at the map, it would be fairly easy to make a mistake.' Ben planted his legs firmly apart to brace himself against the wind as he studied the map again with Jack.
Ellie peered round his shoulder at the map. 'But the other stream isn't far, away. Max and I could go on.'
Jack shook his head immediately. 'No way. The weather is too bad for the two of you to be searching on your own now.'
'But what she says makes sense,' Ben said. 'We do need to check further on as well as down here. I'll go with her and you carry on down this path.'
Jack nodded, 'All right. Stay in contact.'
Ben turned to Ellie, his voice raised to make himself heard above the storm. 'Follow a compass bearing of 280,' he shouted, 'and stay behind me.'
She nodded to show that she'd understood and he immediately strode off, leaving her to walk quickly if she was to catch up.
Grumbling about the length of her legs, she struggled along the boggy ground on a new search pattern.
After about two hundred metres Ellie heard something and reached out to grab Ben's arm.
He stopped immediately, his eyes narrowed against the vicious wind. 'What?'
'I heard something,' she yelled. 'Listen...'
They both stood still but heard nothing but the howling wind, and she frowned and looked around for Max. Where was he?
Finally she saw his hide light appearing and disappearing as he quartered the boggy ground in his search for human scent. „.
Suddenly she saw him stop and prick up his ears.
Ellie shouted encouragement to the dog and then heard the distinct noise of a distress whistle as the light attached to the dog's coat vanished into the darkness.